The International Code & Committee on Nomenclature of Robotics (ICNRS)

What does the ICNRS do?

The International Commission on Nomenclature of Robotics (ICNRS) acts as adviser and arbiter for the robotics community by generating and disseminating information on the correct use of the scientific and industry names of robots.

ICNRS is responsible for producing the International Code of Robotic Nomenclature - a set of rules for the naming of Robots, Artificial Intelligence Agents and Artificial Intelligence Products and the resolution of nomenclatural problems

The need for Robot/AI Taxonomy

Taxonomy has been called "the world's oldest profession" and naming and classifying our surroundings has likely been taking place as long as mankind has been able to communicate. It would always have been important to know the names of poisonous and edible plants and animals in order to communicate this information to other members of the family or group.

In the East, one of the earliest recorded pharmacopoeias was written by Shen Nung, Emperor of China (c. 3000 BC). He wanted to spread information related to agriculture and medicine, and is said to have tasted hundreds of plants with the goal of learning their medicinal value. Records after this are difficult to interpret for some time, but medicinal plant illustrations show up in Egyptian wall paintings from c. 1500 BC.[9] The paintings clearly show that these societies valued and communicated the uses of different species, and therefore had a basic taxonomy in place.

It is time for the naming of Robots (including AI) entities. If you are interested in creating the Taxonomy for Robotics, please contact us at...

image on site reprinted with permission of NAO from Aldebaran Robotics